OCZ or 5796

[Dislexi]

Well, I thought I was set on the 5796, but since I havent gotten my money yet, and the OCZ is coming out soon, I was considering a different lappy.

As stated before, I will be playing games, doing minor photo editing, and school work.

I'm just not sure about the OCZ because it's just coming out and there arent any reviews on it yet about its performance.

So, that being said, here's my potential configurations.

FORCE EXTREME 840 (Built on Flextronics / Arima W840 DI / OCZNBIM17A / W840DI ) PRE ORDER (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2495%7B76%7D1296%7B18 7%7D1757%7B94%7D1074%7B92%7D2446%7B88%7D2416%7B186 %7D734%7B93%7D2507%7B193%7D657%7B112%7D655%7B98%7D 1922%7B96%7D2349%7B97%7D1059%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D 1416%7B117%7D705%7B120%7D702%7B110%7D2426%7B169%7D 1449%7B119%7D1898%7B100%7D734%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7 D1539%7B106%7D1695%7B121%7D694%7B108%7D710%7B109%7 D711%7B170%7D1591%7B173%7D1175%7B167%7D1452%7B103% 7D2020%7B113%7D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69%7D1930)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- -Intel® P8600 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.40GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- 512MB PCI-Express ATI HD3870 DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- None Standard
- - 4,096MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- None Standard
- Custom Laptop Skins [Choose from our designs or your own Graphic or Logo
(Details of design made after order) (Will cause additional lead time on order)
- - Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X Light Scribe DVDRW Drive w/ Software
- - 320GB 3GB/S SATA II 5400RPM Hard Drive
- NO Bay 2 Hard Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Carying Case Optional (Select if desired)
- Smart Li-ion Battery (12 Cell)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- -Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Complete Care Full Parts / Labor Warranty - Next Business Day Shipping both ways - Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Tech Support

total $2,258
Pros: full warranty, high def screen, ATI (i heard it was better?)
otherwise, it is similar to the sager.

also, I dont want the dual cards because I don't really trust Sli yet :)

2nd config...
5796
Sager NP5796 Custom Notebook (Built on Clevo M570TU) (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2415%7B76%7D1883%7B18 7%7D1757%7B94%7D1074%7B92%7D2422%7B88%7D2418%7B186 %7D734%7B93%7D2431%7B193%7D657%7B112%7D655%7B98%7D 1295%7B96%7D786%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D1416%7B117%7D 705%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D2426%7B169%7D1449%7B119%7D 1898%7B100%7D734%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7D689%7B106%7D 1696%7B121%7D694%7B108%7D710%7B109%7D711%7B170%7D1 591%7B173%7D1175%7B167%7D1452%7B103%7D1889%7B113%7 D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69%7D714)
- 17" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® P8600 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.40GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GT DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- Custom Laptop Skins [Choose from our designs or your own Graphic or Logo
(Details of design made after order) (Will cause additional lead time on order)
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 320GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 8MB Cache)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)

total: $2,253
I opted to not get the high def screen (better battery life) otherwise it is the same as the OCZ i think?
I only got the basic warranty, but i might get a higher one, but it would cost closer to 2,500

Also I was thinking about getting the 1g video card, worth it?

The only other big difference is the ocz is 10 lbs while the 5796 is 8.6

I guess my biggest worry is it's brand new, so there are no good/bad reviews about it, even though it looks very nice :)

any info would be greatly appreciated.

sorry about changing my mind again lol

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

I would choose the Sager np5796, it has a longer history and will provide you better graphics performance. You can view this performance difference by clicking the links below:

Force Extreme 840: http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-3870.9597.0.html
Sager np5796: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9800M-GTX.9919.0.html

[Dislexi]

thanx justin :D

if anyone has any other input about the graphics cards or anything else please post it ^_^

[Anewbus]

Hey there Dislexi,

I don't know much about the OCZ either as it is new.
Personally, I don't like ATI as their desktop GPUs suck. Back in the day they used to be on top of the heap, but these days they are more towards the bottom at least in the desktop world. I'm just figuring if the desktop model GPUs are crap then it makes me not trust the lappy models, but I have no tangible evidence on the lappy model GPUs from ATI.

I echo what Justin said, I'd lean more towards the 5796.

What games were you planning on running?
That will determine if going with the 1GB GPU will be worth it. In most cases, the 512MB models are more than plenty. (Example: I can run MoH and CoD at full tilt and no glitches with my lappy which is only running 2GB RAM, XP and a 512MB Nvidia 8600 GT GPU. It shocked me, I didn't think it could do it, but it doesn't even break a sweat! Blows my desktop away).:eek::D

By the way the 1680x1050 native res screen is also plenty good for what you will be doing.

I would try to get the XoticPC 3 year parts and labor warranty.

As for weight: It's up to you. Will you be carrying it places a lot or not?

The important thing is what is your budget? With that, we can fine tune a config or two.:)

Don't worry about changing your mind again. It's part of the process. I changed mine back and forth between two models half a dozen times before I settled.:)

[Dislexi]

thanx for the info about ATI, I didn't know that about them.

I'll be playing wow(WOTLK when it comes out), not very graphics intense i know... lol
also, some new games like COD(newer one) maybe fallout 3.

I just want to be sure that the graphics card will be somewhat future proof, or else i'll just get the 512 now and replace it when it goes out. Possibly more cost effective?

About the screen, I heard the higher res scales down better? or something like that? does that matter?

I'll try to get the 3 year warranty.

I want to carry the lappy to school every day probably, but I want the 17". 8-10 lbs isnt too bad, I just dont want the 9262 :P

Budget is the same as before, $2000-2,500 the less, the better, without sacraficing too much performance. Also, is the notebook cooler that xotic offers descent? or should I buy one seperate?


Mostly, I want something that will last as long as possible and still be able to at least play wow at the end of that time lol. As future proof as possible and still be within my budget.

Sorry about the random questions, hope you can answer as many of them as possible :D

[Anewbus]

The 512MB 9800 GPU will handle those games well. Considering your budget, I would stick with that card and upgrade later if needed. (You may find you won’t need to).

As for scaling down, it depends on how far down you want to go. I know the 1680x1050 screens will scale down natively to 800x600. I’m not sure if the 1920x1200 goes there or not. Justin or someone at Xotic would know for sure. That’s native resolution, when playing a game you may have more choices and even able to go lower.

I know nothing about the cooler Xotic offers. I know aluminum ones are the best at wicking away heat (you still want to make sure it has a couple of fans at least).
Make sure you know how the air flows through your laptop (most draw from the bottom and exhaust out the sides), then you want to get the appropriate kind.

As for future proofing, one school of thought says that’s almost impossible to do in the computer world. The other thought is that if your getting the latest parts you should be fine for at least a couple of years. Personally, I say you would be fine for 3 or 4 years unless your planning on getting the latest most heavy duty programs that come out and loading them up all the time and wanting to run every single thing on the highest possible setting. That’s an expensive way to go though in more ways than one.

What do you think of the following config?
This goes with the standard 2.26 GHz CPU instead of the 2.4 GHz. I don’t think you would actually notice any difference between them.
That’s the only change made other then the warranty which is the 3 year one I was talking about as room was made for that by sticking with the CPU that comes with the machine standard. Nothing else was sacrificed and it brings you under your budget max by about $80.

Sager NP5796 Custom Notebook (Built on Clevo M570TU) (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2415%7B76%7D1883%7B18 7%7D1757%7B94%7D1074%7B92%7D2421%7B88%7D2418%7B186 %7D734%7B93%7D2431%7B193%7D657%7B112%7D655%7B98%7D 1295%7B96%7D786%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D1416%7B117%7D 705%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D2426%7B169%7D1449%7B119%7D 1898%7B100%7D734%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7D689%7B106%7D 1696%7B121%7D%20)
- 17" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® P8400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.26GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GT DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- Custom Laptop Skins [Choose from our designs or your own Graphic or Logo
(Details of design made after order) (Will cause additional lead time on order)
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 320GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 8MB Cache)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio
- Included- Basic Black Business Case
- Included- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty 24/7 Tech Support

TOTAL = $2383.29 with cash discount (not incl shipping and tax)
With shipping your looking at about $2420.29
Depending on where you live you will be avoiding the tax because your having skinning done and therefore it will ship from XoticPC.

[Zatara214]

As for scaling down, it depends on how far down you want to go. I know the 1680x1050 screens will scale down natively to 800x600. I’m not sure if the 1920x1200 goes there or not. Justin or someone at Xotic would know for sure. That’s native resolution, when playing a game you may have more choices and even able to go lower.

My 1920 x 1200 screen scales to 800 x 600 minimum yeah.

[Anewbus]

My 1920 x 1200 screen scales to 800 x 600 minimum yeah.

Thanks for the confirmation on that Zatara.:) I wasn't sure.